College basketball rankings: Purdue isn't ignoring back-to-back Big Ten titles even as it eyes loftier goals
The Boilermakers can make an NCAA Tournament run, but their consecutive titles are worth celebrating
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
Purdue has bigger goals than winning back-to-back outright Big Ten regular-season championships. That goes without saying. But the Boilermakers did become the first team in 17 years to do just that on Tuesday by winning 77-71 at Illinois -- and that's something worth celebrating, even if how Purdue's season will ultimately be remembered won't be decided until after the 2024 NCAA Tournament begins.
"Winning the Big Ten is still such an honor because it's so hard," said Purdue coach Matt Painter, who has won at least a share of four of the past eight Big Ten regular-season titles. "Think about the venues that you have to go into — and I know it's not a perfect schedule, always. But we had to go into Wisconsin. We had to go into [Illinois]. … Being 7-3 on the road in the Big Ten is quite an accomplishment, and 9-0 at home. … We've got a good group."
WIth the victory, Purdue now has the sport's best overall record (27-3), best record in Quadrant 1 (11-3) and best record inside of the first two quadrants (17-3). Moreover, Purdue now has nine wins over teams ranked in the top 25 of the NET compared to UConn's six and Houston's four, which is among the reasons the Boilermakers remain No. 1 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings for the 15th consecutive day.
UConn is still No. 2. Houston is still No. 3.
But don't get it twisted. With 11 days remaining until Selection Sunday, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament is still very much up for grabs -- at least as it pertains to Purdue, UConn and Houston. But there really is no debate about which team has the sport's best body of work right now. It's Purdue. And the Boilermakers will have an opportunity to enhance it Sunday when they host Wisconsin inside Mackey Arena for Zach Edey's final home game that will double as another Q1 opportunity.
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Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 28 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 77-71 win at Illinois. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Wisconsin. | -- | 8-0 |
| 2 |  | Stephon Castle finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Sunday's 91-61 win over Seton Hall. The Huskies' next game is Wednesday at Marquette. | -- | 7-1 |
| 3 |  | Jamal Shead finished with 14 points and six assists in Saturday's 87-85 win at Oklahoma. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at UCF. | -- | 7-1 |
| 4 |  | Zakai Zeigler finished with 18 points and four assists in Saturday's 81-74 win at Alabama. The Vols' next game is Wednesday at South Carolina. | -- | 7-2 |
| 5 |  | Tre King finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 60-52 win at UCF. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday against BYU. | -- | 8-0 |
| 6 |  | RJ Davis finished with 22 points and six assists in Tuesday's 84-51 win over Notre Dame. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday at Duke. | -- | 7-1 |
| 7 |  | Caleb Love finished with 22 points and seven assists in Saturday's 103-83 win over Oregon. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday at UCLA. | -- | 7-0 |
| 8 |  | Jalen Bridges finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in Monday's 93-85 win over Texas. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Texas Tech. | -- | 6-1 |
| 9 |  | Baylor Scheierman finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday's 89-75 win over Marquette. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday at Villanova. | -- | 5-3 |
| 10 |  | Marquette allowed the Bluejays to shoot 54.1% from the field in Saturday's 89-75 loss at Creighton. The Golden Eagles' next game is Wednesday against UConn. | -- | 5-4 |
| 11 |  | Jeremy Roach finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Monday's 79-64 win at NC State. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 9-0 |
| 12 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds in Tuesday's 90-68 win over Kansas State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Houston. | -- | 6-3 |
| 13 |  | Johni Broome finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 101-74 win at Missouri. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Georgia. | -- | 7-2 |
| 14 |  | Ian Martinez finished with 21 points and six rebounds in Friday's 72-60 win over Air Force. The Aggies' next game is Wednesday at San Jose State. | -- | 7-1 |
| 15 |  | Trevin Knell finished with 20 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 87-75 win over TCU. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at Iowa State. | 2 | 7-1 |
| 16 |  | Terrence Shannon Jr. was 3 of 13 from the field in Tuesday's 77-71 loss to Purdue. The Illini's next game is Sunday at Iowa. | -- | 6-2 |
| 17 |  | Antonio Reeves finished with 22 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 111-102 win over Arkansas. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Vanderbilt. | 1 | 5-3 |
| 18 |  | DaRon Holmes finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 100-83 win at Saint Louis. The Flyers' next game is Friday against VCU. | 2 | 7-2 |
| 19 |  | Jaylen Wells finished with 27 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 77-65 win over UCLA. The Cougars' next game is Thursday against Washington. | 2 | 3-6 |
| 20 |  | Hunter McIntosh finished with 26 points and two assists in Tuesday's 76-66 win at Boise State. The Wolfpack's next game is Saturday against UNLV. | 5 | 6-3 |
| 21 |  | Meechie Johnson finished with 25 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 82-76 win over Florida. The Gamecocks' next game is Wednesday against Tennessee. | 1 | 5-3 |
| 22 |  | Alabama missed 18 of its 23 3-point attempts in Tuesday's 105-87 loss at Florida. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | 3 | 6-2 |
| 23 |  | Darrion Trammell was 1 of 8 from the field in Tuesday's 62-58 loss at UNLV. The Aztecs' next game is Friday against Boise State. | 8 | 4-3 |
| 24 |  | Graham Ike finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 70-57 win at Saint Mary's. The Zags' next game is March 11 in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament. | 1 | 7-1 |
| 25 |  | Will Richard finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 105-87 win over Alabama. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Vanderbilt. | 1 | 5-3 |
| 26 |  | Pop Isaacs finished with 19 points and five assists in Tuesday's 75-58 win at Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against Baylor. | NR | 6-2 |
